Players

Crosby won the Stanley Cup for the second time in 2015-16 and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He won the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy in 2006-07, and again in 2013-14. He is a three-time winner of the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the outstanding player as voted on by members of the NHL Players Association. Crosby has helped the Penguins to become one of the NHL's most successful franchises on and off the ice, and has been one of the League's most visible players for more than a decade.
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Ovechkin was the first player taken in the 2004 NHL Draft and made an immediate impact in his first season by scoring 52 goals and 106 points in 2005-06, earning him the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. His 65 goals in 2007-08 are the most by any player in the 21st century, and he reached the 50-goal mark for the seventh time, the most among active players, when he scored 50 times in 2015-16. Ovechkin scored his 500th NHL goal on Jan. 10, 2016, becoming the 43rd player in NHL history to do so.
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Kane's overtime goal in Game 6 of the 2010 Final gave the Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP during Chicago's run to the Cup in 2013, and shared the scoring lead in 2015 to help Chicago win its third championship in six seasons. In 2015-16, Kane had 106 points (46 goals, 60 assists) to become the first American-born player in League history to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player.
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Stamkos is a two-time winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer. He led the League with 51 goals in 2009-10 and was tops in 2011-12 with 60, a mark no one has approached since then. The first player taken in the 2008 NHL Draft has had two other seasons with 40 or more goals and three seasons when he's scored more than 90 points. He helped the Lightning advance to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final with seven goals and 18 points in 26 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
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The Stars named Benn as captain in the summer of 2013 and he went on to have a breakout season, finishing with 34 goals, 79 points and earning First-Team All-Star honors. He improved his offensive totals to 35 goals and 87 points in 2014-15, and a four-point game in Dallas' season finale made him the first player in franchise history to win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's top scorer.
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With Tavares as their centerpiece, the Islanders have emerged as one of the NHL's best young teams. He was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as League MVP in 2012-13 and finished third in Hart voting behind Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price in 2014-15, when he was second in the NHL in scoring. He was also voted a First-Team All-Star, the first Islander to earn that honor since Mike Bossy in 1985-86.
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Subban broke into the NHL with a splash, scoring 14 goals as a rookie in 2010-11 and has grown into one of the NHL's best at his position, winning the Norris Trophy as the League's top defenseman in 2012-13. On the ice, he's is a terrific skater with a big shot and a flair for the dramatic; off the ice, he's one of hockey's most outgoing personalities, and he has shown he's a natural in front of the camera. He was traded to the Nashville Predators from the Montreal Canadiens on June 29, 2016.
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Jagr continues to be an offensive force well into his 40s, a feat accomplished in the NHL only by the legendary Gordie Howe. Jagr moved past Howe for third on the all-time points list on March 7, 2016. Jagr has said he'd love to play hockey until he's 50, and though he lacks the speed he had as a young player, his smarts and high-end offensive instincts show no signs of diminishing.
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Price led the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Final in 2014, but his success that season went beyond the NHL. He was almost flawless during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when he shut out the United States in the semifinals and Sweden in the final to lead Canada to the gold medal. He was named the tournament's outstanding goaltender by the IIHF.
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The Oilers won the 2015 Draft Lottery and made him the first player chosen, and he wasted little time showing he belonged in the NHL as an 18-year-old. McDavid scored his first goal in his third game, against the Dallas Stars on Oct, 13, 2015, and had his first multigoal game against the Calgary Flames four nights later. He's being counted on as the centerpiece of the Oilers' revival.
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Tarasenko will be part of the Blues for a long time; they signed him to an eight-year contract in the summer of 2015 after he scored 37 goals in his breakout 2014-15 season and was chosen as a Second-Team All-Star. Tarasenko scored 100 goals in his first 250 regular-season games with St. Louis, which chose him with the 16th pick in the 2010 NHL Draft. He also had 10 goals in his first 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Tarasenko has established himself as one of the NHL's most potent scorers and should be a key part of the Blues for years to come.
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All Lundqvist has done since then is continue to win. He surpassed Mike Richter's franchise record for wins during the 2013-14 season, when he led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years. Lundqvist holds the franchise records for appearances, wins and shutouts, and he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 2011-12.
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The owner of one of the NHL's most celebrated beards had a career year in 2015-16, leading all defensemen with 27 goals and finishing second with 75 points. Burns has spent time up front as well as on defense, but new coach Peter DeBoer opted to play him exclusively as a defenseman. Burns is one of the NHL's most dangerous point men and a key reason that the Sharks' power play was so productive in 2015-16.
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Malkin has a blend of size, speed and skill that makes him an offensive force; along with Sidney Crosby, he gives the Penguins a terrific one-two punch down the middle. Malkin, the second player taken in the 2004 NHL Draft, led the League in scoring in 2008-09 and again in 2011-12. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 2006-07, captured the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award in 2011-12, and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2009.
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No defenseman in the 2010s has put up more points than Karlsson, the 15th player taken in the 2008 NHL Draft; he's the only one to break the 300-point mark since the start of the 2010-11 season. Karlsson won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman in 2011-12, when he had 78 points, and repeated in 2014-15, when he led the Senators with 66 points and had a career-high 21 goals. Karlsson has had three seasons of 70 or more points before his 26th birthday. He can play nearly 30 minutes a night on a regular basis and is a threat to score or set up a teammate for a goal every time he's on the ice.
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Pavelski, the 205th player taken in the 2003 NHL Draft, has become one of the League's most consistent scorers since joining the Sharks during the 2006-07 season. He had 38 goals in 2015-16 and has broken the 30-goal mark in each of the past four full NHL seasons. Pavelski also comes up big when it matters most to the Sharks; his 11 game-winning goals in 2015-16 led the NHL, and he scored 47 times on the power play from 2013-16.
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Holtby's play since the start of the 2014-15 season has elevated him into the ranks of the NHL's elite. He took a great leap forward in '14-15, jumping from 23 victories to 41 and reducing his goals-against average to 2.22 from 2.85. Holtby took another step forward in 2015-16, finishing with 48 wins to earn the Vezina Trophy. He was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in 2016.
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"Captain Serious" is one of the NHL's most consistent scorers, having put up at least 25 goals in seven of his first nine seasons. He also won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward in 2012-13. But those aren't the only accomplishments that make Toews one of the League's elite players. He's been one of the cornerstones of the Blackhawks' revival, which includes Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015. In 2010, Toews won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP by scoring 29 points in 22 games to help the Blackhawks win the Cup for the first time since 1961. Toews also excels in Olympic competition, having helped Canada win gold in 2010 and 2014.
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It took some time for Kessel to get comfortable with his new team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, after being traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, 2015. But after a slow start, he finished with 26 goals and 59 points. He had 10 goals and 12 assists in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2015-16. Kessel, one of the NHL's fastest skaters, has scored 30 or more goals five times in his career, including a career-high 37 with Toronto in 2011-12, and has seven seasons of 25 goals or more. Kessel has played in three NHL All-Star games and won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2007.
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The Ducks chose Perry with the 28th selection in the 2003 NHL Draft, nine picks after the player who became his longtime center, Ryan Getzlaf. The 2003 draft class is regarded by many as the best of the past quarter-century, and Perry has done his share to bolster that opinion. He helped the Ducks win their only Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and led the NHL with 50 goals in 2010-11, winning not only the Maurice Richard Trophy as the League's top goal-scorer but also the Hart Trophy as MVP. Perry is a two-time First-Team All-Star, and helped Canada to Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014.
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While the other members of the "Triplets" line struggled in 2015-16, Kucherov thrived. The Moscow native had career bests with 30 goals and 66 points, then scored five goals in Tampa Bay's five-game victory against the Detroit Red Wings in their Eastern Conference First Round series. Though he's listed at 5-foot-11 and 178 pounds, Kucherov is more than willing to go to the "dirty" areas in front of the net.
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Backstrom has spent much of his NHL career as Alex Ovechkin's center, but he's a lot more than just the guy who gets the puck to Ovi. In his first nine NHL seasons, he has averaged nearly a point per game (642 points in 652 games). Backstrom had 50 assists in 2015-16; it's the sixth time he's reached that plateau in his career, more than any other player since he entered the NHL in 2007-08. Backstrom also reached 70 points for the fifth time in his career, helping the Capitals win the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in the League.
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Letang's return from injury was a key to the Penguins' revival after a slow start to the 2015-16 season. He had 14 points in 25 games before being injured in December, but put up 53 points in 46 games after Christmas to fuel a surge that carried Pittsburgh into second place in the Metropolitan Division. Letang was taken in the third round (No. 62) in the 2005 NHL Draft, two rounds after the Penguins selected Sidney Crosby with the first pick. He had career-highs of 16 goals and 67 points in 2015-16, and has reached double figures in goals in each of his past three seasons.
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